Tuesday Top Twenty: Ranking Nicole Kidman's Work
Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 7:01PM By Nathaniel R
Nicole at the ACM Awards this weekAs mentioned in our piece on the finale of Big Little Lies the internet is finally accepting that Nicole Kidman is a genius. Why they haven't noticed that she's been a regularly gripping actor since Dead Calm (1989) with her ascent into intermittent genius happening as early as 1995 (twenty-two years ago!) with her sly breakthrough as fame-obsessed Suzanne Stone in Gus Van Sant's To Die For (Golden Globe win, Best Actress in a Comedy) we will never understand.
But it is what it is. Actresses not named Meryl Streep have to go through this from time to time with people doubting their talent. One imagines if Michelle Pfeiffer is brilliant in any of her comeback roles this year we will get a raft of "who knew this 80s sex symbol, Catwoman herself, was also a great actor?!" articles and we will have to roll our eyes with a "anyone who was paying any attention at all!" answer and a weary shrug.
But it's fun to do quick rankings, so herewith...
Nicole Kidman's 20 Best Performances
The order would vary if the list were composed on a different day though the top eight would remain the top eight, give or take the exact numbers...
- Moulin Rouge! (Oscar & SAG nomination, Golden Globe win)
- The Paperboy (Globe & SAG nomination)
- Birth (Globe nomination)
- Rabbit Hole (Oscar, Globe & SAG nominations)
- Big Little Lies (TV)
🔺 masterpiece star turns, really
- To Die For (Globe win, BAFTA nomination)
- The Others (Globe & BAFTA nominations)
- The Hours (Oscar, Globe & BAFTA wins, SAG nomination)
🔺 she earned those awards!
- Dogville
- Lion (Oscar, Globe, BAFTA, nominations)
- Photograph 51 (Stage)
🔺 terrific work
- Margot at the Wedding
- Flirting
- Eyes Wide Shut
- Dead Calm
- The Golden Compass
🔺 underappreciated choices but maybe not her "best"
- Paddington
- Birthday Girl
- Nine
- Australia
🔺 imperfect but she has her moments in these
Performances I'd need to revisit before feeling comfortable in ranking them (memory is so foggy on these four 90s films ---wait, have I even seen them all the way through?)
- Billy Bathgate (Globe nomination)
- Batman Forever
- Portrait of a Lady
- Practical Magic
Coming soon to (hopefully) disrupt the list above
- How to Talk to Girls at Parties
- Top of the Lake (season 2)
- The Beguiled
- The Killing of a Sacred Deer
A NOTE ON FILM CRITICS AND NICOLE: Despite many acclaimed roles she has never won any of the holy trinity of critics prizes (NYFCC, LAFCA, or NSFC) nor has she ever won a solo prize from one of the A list film festivals, though she shared Best Actress at Berlinale with her co-stars in The Hours.
Like any actor who works nonstop (she has over 70 credits already) there are missteps. I think these are the biggest disappointments given that the roles themselves are actually interesting:
- Stoker
- Cold Mountain (Globe nomination)
- Fur
- Genius
Performances I haven't seen
- Any of her Australian TV or film work before Dead Calm (1989)
- The Blue Room (stage)
- My Life (1993)
- Malice (1993)
- The Peacemaker (1997)
- The Interpreter (2005)
- Trespass (2011)
- Just Go With It (2011)
- Hemingway & Gelhorn (2012, Globe, Emmy & SAG nomination)
- Before I Go to Sleep (2014)
- Grace of Monaco (2014, SAG nomination)
- Secret in Their Eyes (2015)
- Queen of the Desert (2015)
HOW WOULD YOU RANK NICOLE KIDMAN'S PERFORMANCES?
Reader Comments (82)
@Jason I love you. Haven't thought of BMX Bandits in 4evs! It's magical.
@Goran
" And comparing her to Blanchett - apart from being uncomfortable in the sense of randomly pitting actresses against one another - is just ludicrous"
Ludicrous how?
Working on the asssumption that you regard Blanchett as a better/more accomplished actress, how on earth is it "ludicrious" to compare an actress of Kidman's accomplishments on stage and screen to another notable actress of the same generation. Going on pure accolades to take opinion out of the equation, even though many feel Kidman has been robbed repeatedly over the years of nominations and wins, her haul is pretty damned strong, when you consider that Blanchett seems to gets award love with greater ease. For example;
OSCARS: Kidman (4 nominations, 1 win), Blanchett (7 nominations, 2 wins)
GOLDEN GLOBES: Kidman (10 nominations, 3 wins) Blanchett (9 nominations, 3 wins)
Blanchett has more awards nominations and wins in general, but Kidman's own haul is big enough that they are comparable in that regard.
Kidman actually has 2 Best Actress nominations from the Laurence Olivier Awards (the UK equivalent of the Tonys). Blanchett has performed on the UK stage more times than Kidman, has never been nominated for an Olivier. Not to say this makes Kidman a better stage actress, but it's incredibly telling about Kidman's talent level that she barely does stage, but whenever she does, it's a major event where she wins or gets nominated for a slew of major theatre awards. Wheras Blanchett is regarded as the stage animal who does it a lot more regularly. Yet Kidman competes on even terms with Blanchett on that turf as well.
Comparing these two is no more ludicrious than people comparing Nicholson, Pacino and DeNiro. They are standouts in their generation who appeal to different people for different reasons.
My first exposure to Nicole Kidman was watching the gripping Bangkok Hilton miniseries on TV as a teenager - my family and I were blown away by this impressive teenager, her combination of girlish vulnerability and steely grit was perfect for the role and retrospectively seems to set the standard and tone for the career to come... (I could also draw your attention to the joys of Hugo Weaving as Kidman's co-star in Bangkok Hilton, if you need another reason to seek it out pronto!). Anyway, I was pretty thrilled when Hollywood took notice of the young actress I was so excited about, but it took a while for her to bank on her promise with roles that played to her strengths.
I've run hot and cold on her over the years, but when she's given the right material she rises to the very top of her game and no currently working actress can match her for star wattage married to acting chops.
I'm not a completist of the Kidman canon, but her presence in a project always piques my curiosity. My top 5 performances would probably be:
1. To Die For (iconic defining role - she's never prioritised likability over complicated magnetism)
2. Portrait Of A Lady (oh the range, intelligence and pain)
3. Moulin Rouge (shooting into the stratosphere)
4. Bangkok Hilton (where it all begins)
5. Big Little Lies (an impeccably paced slow-burner - such a sophisticated performance)
she's wonderful in margot at the wedding. she kind of plays the ultimate mom of a gay son. the push/pull between warm and cold is brilliant.
See Malice and Billy Bathgate for the first glimmers of the actress she would become.
See TPOAL for her best ever performance IMO and also a delicious Hershey,my fave supporting performance ever.
She can be wrong in some big studio pics but when she's on she is totally on especially if she clicks with a director's particular vision.
1. Birth
2. Big Little Lies
3. Practical Magie
4. To Die For
5. The Others
TV is still a very powerful medium...as I said in the Big Little Lies post, this is really the first time Kidman as been part of a viral project in the new social media age. I'm sure it's just as jarring for her and the people who rep her. You can tell she's a little high on it if she's talking about another season...even though she knows deep down that would be a bad idea.
I love Nicole in the Stepford Wives remake. She was fun, as was the movie. I know the original is praised and all (and probably deserving since I haven't seen it yet), but I enjoyed the remake a great deal. Nicole was fierce.
I adore NK (even more so now with her masterful performance in BLL)...in regards to Nat's list, I'm surprised Nine and Australia made the top twenty. Definitely miscast in Nine...I know she got flak for this, and even referred to it on Oprah, but she didn't have the vocal chops to sing Unusual Way...although I'm only familiar with Linda Eder's version, I would be hard-pressed to find a better version of the song, unless a world-class opera diva like Renee Fleming took a stab at it! Also, she doesn't look or read va-va-voom Italian movie star...Celtic goddess, yes! Italian goddess, no!
Best comedic (although it has lots of melodrama as well) performance from her has to be Far and Away. Her comedy in Australia doesn't quite work (of course she brings the drama in that, no question).
Whither Bewitched
What an impressive top 10 (films), one have to admit, and she is only 49 y/o! She is the most interesting actress working in the U.S., and has been for the last 2 decades. It's a shame she doesn't have the same respect of peers, audience and critics as Blanchett or Tilda. Kidman should be a living legend (like La Streep) by now.
Nicole didn't get a SAG nod for Moulin Rouge!
My top 5 (I feel like I've missed a lot of her performances) but from what I've seen:
1. To Die For
2. Moulin Rouge
3. Rabbit Hole
4. The Others
5. Eyes Wide Shut
Special Mention : The Chanel #5 Commercial 'I'm a dancer, I love to dance'
1. To Die For
2. Birth
3. The Others
4. Rabbit Hole
5. Moulin Rouge
6. Dogville
7. Eyes Wide Shut
8. Margot and the Wedding
9. The Hours
10. The Paperboy
I find it completely normal to compare Kidman to Blanchett.
When I did so, I meant that she's just as great as Cate, however, her choices are not as consistently good as Cate's.
Her work has included far too many hiccups post-2004.
Yes, post-2004 Kidman gave us:
- Margot at the Wedding,
- The Golden Compass (mediocre film, great performance),
- Rabbit Hole,
- The Paper Boy,
- Paddington
- Lion
and while that's enough for a 12-year period, it's accompanied by a lot of pedestrian and trashy movies.
I will always be upset that Kidman didn't win for Moulin Rouge! to make way for Julianne to win her first Oscar for Far From Heaven. I will NEVER get over that.
KIDMAN is such an overrated actress the acting is always beyond robotic :(
Where's Far and Away? =)
^Far and Away has been taken away - and filed away in the Department of Awful Accents, never to be let out, due to Kidman's but especially Cruise's "Irish accents"!
👎
Top 5:
To Die For
The Hours
Rabbit Hole
Moulin Rouge
Big Little Lies
KIDMAN ALL DAY EVERYDAY! Lol
Nic is my favorite actress and every project she chooses makes me realize why I love her so.
My always changing Top 10
To Die For
Moulin Rouge
The Hours
Big Little Lies (should be an Oscar winner if it was a film)
Rabbit Hole
The Others
Lion (oh I wish her Oscar clip would have been the less showy but equally amazing bathtub scene)
The Paperboy (should've won an Oscar)
Birth
Dogville
Whoever threw that major shade above is my hero.
I am perhaps your other contemporary legend. Emma, Ryan.
Congratulations to Nicole on her retirement. JKL
Bangkok Hilton is up there. She was so young and fresh, but you couldn't take your eyes off of her.
To Die For. Nothing before and nothing since tops it. #ThatsAll
I always enjoy watching Kidman no matter the quality of the performance. I am in love with her and have been since before puberty. So that's never changing and it's not a bad thing.
I think her work is so wide and varied that's it's hard to come up with a list. But i will say that the performances i always feel like defending are Margot at the Wedding and Portrait of a Lady. Both works of overwhelming complexity.
The comparison to Blanchett are inevitable. I bet they compete for the same roles over and over again. But i bask in the joy of having lived in the era of Blanchett/Kidman. I hope they get together for a movie but it has to be just right. Something Todd Haynes comes up with. I agree that a lot of the comtroversy about Kidman comes from people's reaction tp her looks. She is prettier than anyone and that's just a fact. And she is not relatable. The reason the internet is losing her shit over her now is because she acted the shit out of being the victim of a bully - immediately relatable!!!! Let's see people appreciate something like Dogville. Blanchett is a much more technical actor and is able to portray strength like no one else. Kidman portrays fragility and sexuality like no one else. So they both are divine.
I think people should leave The Hours alone . It is a gift from the Gods of cinema and you all should keep your mouth shut about it. I mean Streep kissed Janney, kidman kissed Richardson and Moore kissed Colette. The fuck more do you want? The Hours hate is the most ludicrous type of hate.
Finally i agree that Australia was her worst performance. That movie was a mess and it sank unfer its own weight. The intentions were noble but the execution exhausting.
I really hope this string of praise and great work continues for her. She's been my favorite actress for years, so I'm no stranger to her genius, but it is good to see other people acknowledging her talent for once and not harping on her looks/personal life.
Ranking everything I've seen from her is a HUGE endeavor for me, so I'll just give my top five favorite performances (at the moment):
1. Moulin Rouge!
2. Birth
3. The Hours
4. The Others
5. Dogville
Definitely agree with this list. Her performance and range in Moulin Rouge is undeniably perfect.
Moulin Rouge
The Others
Big Little Lies
Bangkok Hilton
Portrait of a Lady
To Die For
Rabbit Hole
Birth
Lion
Australia
Dead Calm
The Hours
Dogville
The Paperboy
The Railway Man
Flirting
Practical Magic
The Interpreter and the Peacemaker (I really enjoyed both of these at the time. I think I might be alone in that)
After seeing Emerald City in 1988 my mum said "It's not the greatest movie, but that girl will win an Academy award someday. Nicole was 21. I never saw that movie so it's not on my list, but It was when I first started paying attention to Nicole. My mum also said the same thing about Heath Ledger as we were both walking out of Two Hands 10 years later, only that movie was really good.
In my opinion and I may be wrong, but it is only here that Nicole and Cate get compared too much, as if they have a rivalry a la Bette and Joan. Perhaps this stemmed from Nathaniel's love for Nicole and his dislike of Cate (in the past) that readers started pitting them against each other. If I'm wrong, maybe it's because they are both Australians? Lol.
I would love to see Cate and Nicole in one movie. It would be a real treat.
Cate would knock Nicole out of the ball park.
I want to give a shout out for her "The Stepford Wives" performance, powerful satire when she needed it to be, goofy on occasions... the only Frank Oz's maybe real misfire along with "The Score", but a film I own and revisit from time to time...
1. To Die For
2. Birth
3. The Hours
4. Eyes Wide Shut
5. The Others
6. The Paperboy
6. Moulin Rouge
7. Rabbit Hole
8. Dogville
9. Big Little Lies
10. The Portrait of a Lady
11. Lion
12. Stoker
13. Margot at the Wedding
14. Cold Mountain
15. Practical Magic
16. Strangerland
17. Practical Magic
18. Nine
19. Queen of the Desert
20. Birthday Girl
Listing Nicole's performances turned out to be way harder than I thought. If you ask me to list her works another time, I may come up with an entirely different list. She is THAT good.